Wood, Ink & Paper

In this book, Gerard Brender à Brandis draws us into scenes like that of a windswept kite set against a blustery spring day, or that of a gigantic setting sun blazing through a field of winter wheat, or the quietude of an upstairs room in a farmhouse. 

The lines are rich and black, and the images - abandoned schoolhouses, solitary silos, rough hewn barrels - are like pastoral poems. This emphasis on nature and the small size of the woodcuts suggests an affinity to the Japanese haiku. Brender à Brandis’ ability to capture mood is unparalleled.

160 Pages
8.75" x 5.5"
1980

A member of the Wood Engravers’ Network, Gerard Brender à Brandis has produced hundreds of drawings, wood engravings and watercolours of plants, landscape, buildings and musical instruments. These images have appeared in books, including Wood, Ink and Paper, At Water’s Edge and Portraits of Flowers (all published by The Porcupine’s Quill) as well as in his own handmade editions. His work is represented in the collections of the Royal Botanical Gardens (Hamilton, Ontario), the Missouri Botanic Garden, the Arnold Arboretum and the Hunt Botanical Library. His garden and his studio are located in Stratford, Ontario.

The Porcupine’s Quill is an artisanal book publisher that values the art and craft of the book in form and content. They specialize in acquiring work by Canadian authors whose voices are new, underrepresented or verging on oblivion, with a particular focus on books that represent the intersection between literature and other creative disciplines: between text and image, memoir and music, letterpress and offset.